Mickey's Halloween Party in Disneyland 2012

Yes. Disneyland at Halloween!  I love it.  It really never gets old to me.  It was my third Disneyland Halloween party.  The first I was a bit out of sorts with no costume.  Last year I was short hair Rapunzel.  This year I was Mary Poppins.  Nanny Style!

Once I was in of course I went straight to the characters.  I can't help myself.  But unfortunately I did not come prepared when it came to something for autographs.  Yes I am that person.

I found some of my friends in the park about half way through.  We went through many Trick-or-treat lines.  I got two bagfuls of candy, probably 4 pounds worth!  Amazing.
We headed up to my old home away from home, Main Street Station, to watch the fireworks.  For once I put down my camera to just watch the show.  Halloween Screams is probably my favorite fireworks that Disneyland has right now.

New this year were the Villians in Town Square next to Main Street Station.  They came out on a horse drawn carriage with the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters trailing behind.  Kinda fun.  Also new this year were the Dapper Dans singing on the Rivers of America.  They added a lot while trick or treating or waiting for a character!
And I finally met Malificicent in Disneyland!  But no autograph.  Nooooo!!  Oh well it was worth the wait.  I got there about 5 minutes before she was scheduled to arrive and I was the first in line.  Score!

Another first for me was Prince Ali.  I had always missed him in the past.  There was only 2 groups in front of me when I got in line.  Gotta love a less than 5 minute line in Disneyland.
And the longest line of the of night was Jack and Sally.  I hadn't seen them during the day so I waited out the line to be the last on for that set to see both of them together..  Excellent!
As always I had a wonderful time.  I wish I wasn't so far away so I could be sure to visit every year!

Finally Back to Disneyland, in October 2012!

I left in March and I'm finally back in October.  Six months was far too long.  At least I visited during my favorite time of the year, Halloween!  One of the best things about Halloween are the pumpkin carvers in Disneyland.  As always they make the most amazing sculptures.

For 2012 Disneyland opened Festival Arena for the festivities.  They had the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto) along with Chip and Dale dressed in Halloween costumes.  If only Chip and Dale would be dressed as cop and robber like they used to be instead of cop and cop.  They also had Summon a Villain   A short show where you with the help of a cauldron summon a villain from the great beyond.  I loved the idea of it but both of the villains I saw were ones that are out every day.  I suppose I'd rather have less show and three rare villains like last year.

As always I had to see some characters.  Both of my friends know that I have a problem and indulged me.  They wanted to do the character meet and greets too.  Billy needed to see Tinkerbell.  I wanted to see Cinderella!

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies moved their show from the Golden Horseshoe into festival arena as well.  The show was great as usual.  I heard quite a few songs I'd never heard live

I had so much fun visiting my favorite place with my favorite people.  Who wouldn't love Disneyland at Halloweentime with friends?!

Halloween time in Walt Disney World!

It's been over six months since Halloween, so at this point we are half way to Halloween!  Better start thinking about costumes for this year.  Belle's Blue dress?  Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas?

I have a bit of time until October 31st.  For now it's time to recap the end of my Walt Disney World Adventures.

Rachel left work a bit early so that we could change back at her apartment.  She went as Cousin June from Katamari damacy.  It's a video game character.  She made her dress herself!  

I went as Mary Poppins.  I found everything at thrift stores.  I added flowers and berries to the hat, pin stripes to the jacket, and a bow to the shirt.

We came into the park before official party time and went to take a picture with the mouse himself.  Minnie was there too.  From there we joined the princess line.  For Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the Princes hang out with the Princesses.  After waiting for an hour and half we met Snow White, Snow Prince, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Flynn Rider and Rapunzel.  Word to the wise, don't wait in that line.  Not worth it!

And to top off my Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card set we got the limited edition Bag of Tricks card.  61 cards and counting!

From there we found characters that neither of us had taken photos with.  It had been since 2005 since I had seen Jane, not very long since seeing Terk and I've never seen Tarzan.  Rachel waiting in line as I met some other characters.  By the time we got to the front Tarzan had wondered off.  NOOOOO!  So after the fireworks we came back and found all three together.  They were the most entertaining gang of the night!

While Rachel was waiting in line for the Tarzan gang I went over to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbelle.  She always has a friend with her.  With the new movie coming out soon after my visit her friend was her long lost sister Periwinkle.  Both were very cute and I make it back in time to meet Jane and Terk.

Right after meeting with the Tarzan gang we walked deeper into Adventureland to get photos with the Aladdin gang.  Another first was getting a photo with Abu!  Two new characters so far!

Fireworks, or as Disney cast members call it Pyro, was not as good as Disneyland.  The next time I visit for the party, which I'm sure I will, I will skip it!  And I love fireworks way more than parades but the Boo to You parade changed my mind, at least for the night.

Wow!  This is the best parade that I've ever seen.  There were tons of characters in the show that you never get to see in the parks, either in other parades or meet and greets.  All of the lost boys, lots of villains, the hitchhiking ghosts, Kanga and Roo, and more Haunted Mansion awesomeness.  What a parade.  Maybe next time, watch it twice, skip the pyro.

One more new character for me.  Maleficent.  After working in the parks to almost three years and more visiting I've never seen her!  Finally!  And we also saw her nemesis of Aurora and her Prince Phillip.

As the clock was coming closer to striking midnight we found two more characters.  Another first for me was Experiment 626.  Buzz was our final character of the night.

We missed out on so many characters!  No princess line for me next time.  There were Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Daisy in costume.  Gaston was around plus more villains.  Next time...

After collecting many character's autographs and photos we headed out.  Even with broken shoes, 100 percent humidity, and bruised toes we had a fantastic time.  But it was a bit light on the candy.  So I guess I will have to go to Disneyland's Halloween party to make up for it!

Epcot's 30's anniversary! On October 1, 2012!

Well, the anniversary was on October and it is April 30, but who's really counting.  So happy 30 1/2 year Epcot.  

I visited in June 2012 as well which I did not feature on my blog as I was taking time off from it. So here you go.
Brave came out in the summer time and before the film came out they had Highland Games at the entrance to the World showcase.  You could be separated into clans and earn badges (a button) once you completed the games.  The most impressive thing was a huge sand sculpture.  Merida is sand, with all that hair, very impressive!

Then onto characters.  Surprisingly Merida was not in Epcot, but the Magic Kingdom, but there were plenty of other characters to see.  We stumbled upon a character explosion next to the American Adventure and found Mr. Smee and Max!  If only we had made it there about 20 minutes early.  There were about 12 characters out all at the same time.  Why doesn't this happen every visit?

To close out one evening we ate at the Rose and Crown in the British Pavilion.  We enjoyed the dinner on the patio, the side unfortunately.  But I had read that they have a Illuminations viewing patio so we asked and we were let in.  I'll have to say that Illuminations is a not my favorite show.  I fell it's kinda boring, low fireworks, fire, low fireworks, turning globe, low fireworks, then everything together.  Meh.

Now I'm back to September 2012!  In April 2013!

But the real reason why I spent the most time in Epcot than I ever had before was the Food and Wine Festival.  I tried going in 2011 but it didn't work out so I was very happy to make it in 2012.  

All the food comes in tapas form.  Usually about $3-4 you can easily eat your way around the world.

I found Jiminy Cricket and Stitch!  Two unusual characters to me that I had to see.  I was the last one to see Jiminy for the day.  For the win!  Rachel finally found out what my love of characters was all about and had a hilarious game of charades with Chip and Dale.  One of my best memories of the trip for sure!

It was the last day of my trip to WDW that also happened to be the 30th Anniversary of Epcot.  They gave out cool maps that showed the changes over the years to Epcot and a button.  Rachel could not make it into the park because of work so I got her a set too!  I love free buttons!  I wasn't able to make it to any of the presentations because I was occupied by eating around the world and having to fly out at 6pm.

I would love to go back to Epcot during the food and wine festival.  The food, in the restaurants or pavilions  is the real reason to visit Epcot at any time of the year.  But there is nothing really like eating around the world with a friend during the food and wine festival.
Up next, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Hollywood Studios aka the Park of Terrible Shows

Hollywood Studios is truly a theme park with shows.  Good shows?  Maybe not.  

The first show that I saw was The Little Mermaid.  Thank goodness it's only at 20 minute show because it was awful!  Ariel was underpitched the entire time, Eric was a bit fluffy, and the show was so chopped to bit is wasn't enjoyable even if the actors were good.  I wanted to leave but I was sitting in the middle of the row of a full theater so I stuck it out.

One thing I always enjoy in the park is the Magic of Disney animation area.  They always have displays set up for the next Disney or Pixar film.  As I was there in September they had Wreck it Ralph. 

As always I look for characters both inside and outside the Animal courtyard.

The next show was the parade.  They use music from the two California Adventure parades with only about half the interesting floats.  But I do love the music anyways and seeing characters you can't see in meet and greets in the park.

Rachel and I also hit up the 50's Prime Time Diner.  I got a pot roast and Rachel the pork chop.  And man were both of them delicious.  Followed by their smores, what could be better?  We both cleaned out plates but did not get stickers.  I want my money back!

Now to my last adventure in June.  I saw the Beauty and the Beast show.  It is one of my favorite full length musicals so I was excited.  The theater is very nice but the show again is a bit disjointed, but not as much as the Little Mermaid.  The show was decent but there was one thing that still sticks in my head.  What is the deal with the bright pink dresses?  Why?!  They are so ugly!

And finally from my trip in June was Fantasmic.  I love the show in Disneyland.  It is my favorite show there and when I visit I never miss it.  I must have seen it about 50 times.  

The Walt Disney World show just doesn't quite have it.  Missing are my favorite parts with the large boats around the Rivers of America.  There is one part where characters are stuck it bubbles that goes on for about 2 mintues, why?  The changes from the original show certainly don't make it better in my opinion.

I think that Hollywood Studios may have made it's way to the bottom of my Walt Disney World trip.  I certainly spent the least amount of time there compared to the other three parks.  

Up next, Epcot.

Off to Animal Kingdom

This might be a crazy statement to most but Animal Kingdom is probably my favorite Walt Disney World Park.  It's a zoo, which I always love, with a budget!  

Kilimanjaro Safaris is the icon attraction for the park and rightfully so.  What's not to love about a narrated safari with animals that are always in view.  

My other favorite attraction in the park is Everest.  It's a fantastic roller coaster with a temperamental yeti.  The best moment for me on the attraction is riding up the mountain for the first time.  Look to your left and you will see the Epcot ball, the Swan and Dolphin hotels, and The Tower of Terror.

And of course the characters.  The lines for characters in Animal Kingdom are always reasonable if non existant for characters like Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger.

The details of this park are what set it above any other.  It feels more like Disneyland when it comes to attention to detail.  Good job Mr. Rohde.  Walt would be happy.  It's like the Jungle Cruise he always wanted.

And more characters.  It was my first time visiting with Russel and Dug.  Gotta love new characters, ka kah!

And finally Dinosaur.  It's the terrible version of Indiana Jones.  But it is my favorite bad ride in the parks so I must go on it each visit.  I never quite remember where the camera is so the picture is always fantastic.  We're the bottom two on the left.  I usually have a "you cannot be serious" face.  Rachel does not look happy either.

Until next time Animal Kingdom!

Up next, Hollywood Studios

Back to the Wizarding World!

Welcome to Hogsmeade!   I was so excited to be back!  I love this place.  I'm very excited when it comes to the coast that I visit more often all my dreams will come true.  Or when they build a Disneyland in Kansas City, then all all my dreams came true!

This time I came armed with both of my cameras ready to shoot.  Looking at my photos now I still wish I would have taken more photos.  It had only been 2 weeks since my trip to Europe and I was still suffering from photo fatigue.  

Into Hogsmeade I went to have my Muggle adventures.  What's not to love as you enter Hogsmeade to be greeted by the Hogwarts express.  And a butterbeer cart!  

As you walk into the land further you pass by Zonkos, Honeydukes, and Three Broomsticks.  The detail in the windows are so well done.  I just wish that all the store fronts I could walk inside.

One place you can walk inside is the Three Broomsticks.  I ate here twice during my visit.  

One of my favorite details about this restaurant are the drink choices.  Pear cider, apple cider, pumpkin juice, pumpkin fizz, and lemonde are your choices.  Of course Butterbeer too!  No coke here, or anywhere in the land!  So cool!  

Situated right next door is Hogs Head Pub.  I indulged here with a hard cider.  I spent many an hour sitting on this patio writing letters while enjoying pear, apple, hard cider and the occasional butterbeer.   

I love finding a quiet area to sit and relax in the middle of a busy theme park.

Now back into Hogsmeade.  If  you look close enough you can find Gilderoy Lockheart's books in a window display.  So many details all around it never ceases to amaze me!

You never know what you are going to see around the area.  Wizard's chess, no feeding winged creatures, flying snitches and Moaning Murtle in the bathroom.  What will I stumble upon next.

Cats made from measuring tape, floating dresses, measuring tape that seems to work on its own, and instruments that play themselves.  It's magic.

 At the other end of the alley is Hogwarts castle.  I wish I could go there for real.

And view looking back into the Hogs Head patio and the Castle.  What's not to love about an area that outdid Disney.

And a picture of me with the Triwizard school participants for good measure!